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Ethanol is no cure-all for energy problems

(AP) - A number of researchers, the latest in a report Monday, are
warning about exaggerated expectations that ethanol could
dramatically change America's dependence on foreign oil by shifting
motorists away from gasoline.

As far as alternative fuels are concerned, biodiesel from
soybeans is the better choice compared with corn-produced ethanol,
University of Minnesota researchers concluded in an analysis
Monday.

But "neither can replace much petroleum without impacting food
supplies," the researchers concluded in the paper published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Ethanol plantMPR Photo/Mark Steil

The paper said development of nonfood materials such as
switchgrass, prairie grasses and woody plants to produce cellulosic
ethanol would be a major improvement with greater energy output and
lower environmental impacts.

But creation of cellulosic ethanol remains in the laboratory
research stage. And even nonfood sources of ethanol would fall far
short of replacing gasoline, most researchers agree.

Biofuels such as ethanol are "not a practical long-term
solution," and their widespread use - even from nonfood crop
sources - could have a "devastating" impact on agriculture, two
researchers at the Magleve Research Center of the Polytechnic
University of New York, argued recently.

"Ethanol from 300 million acres of switchgrass still could not
supply our present gasoline and diesel consumption, which is
projected to double by 2025," the researchers, James Jordan and
James Powell, wrote in an op-ed article in the Washington Post.
"The agricultural effects of such a large-scale program would be
devastating."

In addition to a reduction in soil fertility by not plowing
wastes back into the ground, there is concern that using corn and
soybeans for ethanol would create competition for food crops.

If every acre of corn were used for ethanol, it would replace
only 12.3 percent of the gasoline used in this country, according to the study.

But Geoff Cooper, a spokesman for the National Corn Growers
Association, calls suggestions that the growth of ethanol will
jeopardize food supplies as "fear mongering."

"There's absolutely no shortage of corn," said Cooper. He said
demand for corn for livestock feed has been flat and that increased
production and expected higher yields per acre will provide plenty
of corn to meet all needs.

In a frenzy to respond to public outcries about high gasoline
and crude oil prices, members of Congress as well as the Bush
administration have embraced ethanol as the alternative to gasoline
to help move the country closer to energy independence.

Ethanol, virtually all of it made from corn in this country,
also has been touted as the "green" alternative motor fuel with a
push to make it more widely available not only as a 10 percent
additive but with an 85 percent blend with gasoline.

"We definitely believe that biofuels (such as ethanol) have a
significant potential," said Jason Hill, lead author of the
University of Minnesota study.

But he added that ethanol should not
be viewed as "a savior" to our energy problems and its rapid
expansion as a motor fuel has its drawbacks, especially if it is
dependent on food crops such as corn and soybeans as feedstock.

If every acre of corn were used for ethanol, it would replace
only 12.3 percent of the gasoline used in this country, Hill's
study said, adding that the energy gains of corn-produced ethanol
are only modest and the environmental impacts significant.

As a motor fuel, ethanol from corn produces a modest 25 percent
more energy than is consumed - including from fossil fuels - in
growing the corn, converting it into ethanol and shipping it for
use in gasoline.

An E85 ethanol pumpMPR Photo/Jeff Horwich

While often touted as a "green" environmentally friendly fuel,
corn-based ethanol's life cycle environmental impacts are mixed as
best, the researchers said.

Compared with gasoline, it produces 12 percent less
"greenhouse" gasses linked to global warming, according to the
study. But the researchers also said it has environmental
drawbacks, including "markedly greater" releases of nitrogen,
phosphorous and pesticides into waterways as runoff from corn
fields.

Ethanol, especially at higher concentrations in gasoline,
also produce more smog-causing pollutants than gasoline per unit of
energy burned, the researchers said.

"There's a lot of green in the money that's going into ethanol,
but perhaps not so much green is coming out as far as the
environment," said Hill, the lead author, in a telephone
interview.

The ethanol industry says there's little new in the University
of Minnesota study.

"Everyone in the industry recognizes that there is a limit on
how much ethanol you can produce from corn," said Matt Hartwig, a
spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, which represents
ethanol producers.

"Nobody is saying that ethanol is the silver bullet that is
going to solve all our energy problems. It's going to take a whole
host of technologies. ... But ethanol and other biofuels play a
very critical role."

He said the University of Minnesota study is only the latest to
conclude that ethanol produces more energy than it consumes. "More
importantly, there is a significant reduction in petroleum use with
ethanol," he added.

Last year about 14 percent of the corn crop went to ethanol,
compared with 11 percent four years ago. This year the amount of
corn for ethanol could be nearly one in every five bushels grown,
or 19 percent, according to Agriculture Department estimates.

The Corn Growers Association says that by 2015 a third of all
the corn grown - or 5.5 billion bushels - likely will be for
ethanol. The Energy Department says it has a goal of 30 percent of
the fuel used by motorists to be ethanol - both corn-based and
cellulosic - by 2030.